Barrel lift



E. A. ZEH

BARREL LIFT Oct; 9, 1951 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 4, 1946 INVENTOR.

Y Edward [LZeh B CZMJJfGLMA "I5 HTTORNEUS E. A. ZEH

BARREL LIFT Oct. 9, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 4, 1946 INVENTOR. Edward Zeh HIS mronmzys Patented Oct. 9, 1951 UNITED BARREL LIFT Edward A. Zeh, Passaic, N. J., as'signor to Falstrom Company, Passaic, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 4, 1946, Serial No. 707,612

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in trucks for lifting and tilting articles and is especially designed for elevating, transporting and tilting barrels.

In the present truck construction the barrel is adapted to be supported in a suitable clamp which can beraised and lowered by a pivotal swinging movement of the handle by which the truck is propelled and one object of the present invention is to provide mechanism for lockin the barrel clamp in its elevated position with means for actuating said locking mechanism so located with respect to the hand clamp portion of the handle that an operator can simultaneously grip the propelling handle and said actuating mechanism whereby said mechanism can be operated without the operator moving his hands from the handle.

In connection-with the tilting of a barrel supported in the barrel clamp, a further object of the invention is to. provide a simple, safe and erficient locking mechanism for locking the barrel either ina perpendicular position or in its tilted position. This object is accomplished by providing trunnions on the barrel clamp which are journaled in clamp supporting members, said clamp and its supporting members being formed with interlocking elements which normally prevent rotation of the trunnions in their bearings but which may be released merely by disengaging said interlocking elements when it is desired to tilt or swing the. barrel clamp with respect to the members in which it is pivotally supported by its trunnions.

Still another object is to provide a strong, safe mechanism for locking the barrel clamp in its barrel clamping position. More specifically, this locking mechanism for the barrel clamp comprises a chain attached to one end of a split band which constitutes the barrel clamp and a lever pivoted to the, opposite end of said band, said lever having a hub portion formed with a recess in which any one of the links of the chain can be securely attached with a toothed segment also formed on the hub portion of the lever which is adapted to be engaged by a pawl for holding the lever. against rotation in its chain releasing direction. Thus, by anchoring the chain in the recess of the hub the chain can be tightened merely by rocking the lever and when the chain has been pulled as taut as possible the lever will be locked against reverse motion by the pawl which is preferably normally main tained in a locking position by gravity.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will hereinafter be more fully described and the novel features thereof particu! larly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the pres ent truck with the barrel engaging clamp being shown in, full lines in its lowered position under which circumstances the handle is in anupright position, the handle and clamp being shown in dotted lines in the positions they occupy when the truck is being propelled with or without a barrel held in elevated position therein;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational View, partly broken away, of a truck;

Fig. 3 is a detailed elevational view illustrating the locking mechanism for holding the handle depressed and the barrel clamp elevated;

Fig.4 is a detailed front elevational view of the. mechanism shown in Fig. 3;

. Fig. 5 is a side view of the lever for tilting and locking the chain by which the barrel clamp is tightened around a barrel;

Fig. 6 is an edge view of said lever;

Fig. '7 is an end view of the hub. end of said lever;

Fig. 8 is a detailed view, taken on the line 8-43 of Fig. 1 and partly in elevation and partly in section, illustrating the pivotal support of the barrel clamp in the truck and the means for locking said clamp against tilting movement; and

Fig. 9 is an end view of the structure shown in Fig. 8.

The truck of the present invention may be generally described as comprising a base I0, having suitable wheelsor rollers i I and I2 preferably at its front and rear ends and main supporting standards l3 mounted at opposite sides of the base. Pivoted adjacent the upper ends of the standards I3 is a handle preferably of U-shape formation in that it comprises a cross bar I4 forming a handle and side members IS, the free ends of the latter being of increased width and offset as indicated at It with these end portions I6 journaled on pivot pins l6 mounted in the standards I3. The enlarged portions N5 of the handle ends have pivotally attached theretoclamp supporting members H whose lower ends are provided with bearings or openings in which trunnions or pivot pins It on the barrel clamp [9 are pivotally supported. This barrel clamp may take various forms but, preferably, it is formed of a split metallic band open at its front for placement around a barrel by slightly flexing Or springing the bandj Preferably the band is cut away as indicated at to reduce the wei ht thereof and means which will be later described are also provided for drawing the ends of the split band together to tighten the band around a barrel. In order to vary the throw of the handle I 6 or. in other words. in order to vary the distance the barrel clamping band l9 may be raised and lowered the band su porting members and the ends I6 of the handle are each provided with a series of apertures 2|, 22. for reeption of the pivot pins 23 by which the supporting members H are pivotally attached to the handle ends.

Normally, when the truck is being propelled the handle occupies a horizontal position and the band I9 a raised position, as shown in dotted lines inFig. l. The frame of the base It! is open at the front so that the band l9 may be engaged around a barrel to be lifted and transported on the truck. To position the band I9 around the barrel the handle is turned to an upright position to lowerthe band, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1 and the band then slipped around the barrel. After the band has thus been positioned around a barrel its ends are drawn together to securely clamp the barrel by means of a chain 24 attached to one end of the band and a clamping lever 25 pivoted on the other end of said band. The chain 24, as will be understood, is placed across the slit in the band and secured to lever 25 by which it may be drawn taut and locked in what is called barrel clamping position. This is accomplished essentially by reason of the peculiar construction of the locking lever 25 which is shown in detail in Figs. 5 to '7. This lever comprises a handle portion 25 which terminates at one end in a hub portion 26 which is provided with a bore 2'! for the pivot pin 28 by axially of the hub just far enough apart to receive one of the chain links edgewise. As will be apparent, by securing one of the chain links in this recess 29 and rocking the lever on its pivot 28 the ends of the band I9 can be drawn together to tightly clamp the band around a barrel embraced by the band. As also shown in Figs. 5 to 7, the hub portion 26 of this lever 25 is also formed with a segment 3| having a series of teeth 32 on the edge thereof and these teeth are adapted to be engaged by a locking pawl 33 (Fig. 1), so that, as the chain is drawn taut by rocking the lever in one direction, reverse movement of the lever is prevented by this locking pawl 33. Paw] 33 releasably engages the teeth 32, being normally held in engagement with said teeth in the present instance by gravity.

After a barrel has thus been secured in the clamping band I9 and is ready to be transported to the desired destination said band is elevated by swinging the handle from its upright position, as shown in Fig. 1, to its horizontal position, as shown in dotted lines. in said figure, thus raising the barrel free of the floor or other surface so that the truck may be readily propelled. To look the band I9 and the barrel secured therein in this elevated position each standard I3 has rigidly mounted thereon a member 34, having a series of teeth or detents 35 therein arranged; concentrically of the pivot pin I! on which the handle is mounted and the side bars l5 of said handle carry pawls 36 which are yieldingly urged by springs 31 into engagement with the teeth: 35, so that, as the handle is swung to its horizontal position, interengagement of these pawls 36 with the detents or teeth 35 will retain the clamp I9 in elevated position. To facilitate actuation of the pawls 36 when it is desired to release said pawls from their locking position pawl actuator rods 38 are slidably mounted inthe sides I5 of the handle, said rods being of sufficient length to extend from the pawls lengthwise of the handle into proximity of the cross bar I4 of the handle. These rods 38 may be formed with threaded ends 39 for attachment to the pawls and, preferably, the two rods extend along the sides I5 of the handle to a point in proximity to cross bar I4 at which point they are formed with lateral extensions 40 which extend through slots 4| in the handle, these extensions 40 for the actuator rods 38 being located sufiiciently close to the cross bar l4 of the handle so that the operator, when desiring to actuate the pawls 36, can do so by simply gripping the extensions 4|] without actually moving his hand or hands from the cross bar M of the handle.

As previously indicated, it is frequently desired to tilt the barrel which is carried in the clamping band I9 and, for this purpose, said band is rotatably supported by its trunnions I8 in its supporting members I'I. However, of course, it is also desirable to prevent accidental tilting movement of the barrel and for these purposes the band I9 is provided with releasable locking means, as shown more particularly in Figs. 8 and 9. That is, the band I9 is provided at opposite sides with two locking apertures 5|], 5| adapted to be alternately engaged by locking pins 4| carried by the supporting members [1, said pins 4| being provided with reduced end portions 4|*- which project through openings of corre= sponding size in the ends of sleeve-like bearings 42 mounted on members I! in which the looking pins are axially slidable. The outer end of each bearing sleeve 42 is also transversely slotted, for instance, as shown at 43, and the reduced end portions 4 l of the pins 4| are provided with cross pins 45 adapted to enter these slots in the bearings to permit the locking pins to engage in the locking apertures in the band. Thus the band is locked against rotation in its supports whenever pins 4| are engaged in either of the locking apertures 50, 5|. The cross pins 45 are normally held in the slotted ends of the bearings 42 with pins 4| engaged with one or the other of apertures 50, 5|, by springs 46 housed within the bearings 42, said springs being interposed between one end of the bearing and the shoulder formed on the pin 4| by reason of its reduced end portion. However, to disengage these interlocking elements, 1. e., pins 4| and apertures 5|], 5|, when it is desired to tilt or turn the band I9 with respect to the supports ll, it is merely necessary to withdraw pins 4| from the apertures with which they are engaged, a distance sufficient to let the pins 4| clear the clamp and the latter may then be turned in its bearing in supports Thus, the band can always be: locked in either of the two positions in which it is usually placed when the truck is in use. If. it is desired to retain the locking pins 4| disengaged from the locking apertures, said pins need only be rotated in the sleeves 42 to move cross pins 45 out of registry with the slots 43. To reinforce band l9, supplemental plates 19 may also be provided at opposite sides where the band is provided with the locking apertures 50, 5|, and the trunnions I8.

From the foregoing it .will be seen that the present truck is of comparatively simple but sturdy construction and that it may be said to possess a high safety factor in that there is little danger of an operator injuring himself either by a barrel being improperly locked in the band H), or by the band being accidentally released from its raised position while the barrel is held elevated therein, or by a barrel accidentally being permitted to swing from a tilted position to a perpendicular position, any one of which happenings might result in injury to an operator. As a further insurance against accidental injury to an operator he can release the handle for the purpose of lowering a barrel carried in the band Without removing his hand from the handle of the truck, which, also, means that he stands at a point remote from the barrel at all times during the raising or lowering of a barrel in the barrel clamping band.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the character described having a mobile frame provided with supporting standards at opposite sides of the frame, a handle pivoted on said standards for propelling the frame, and a barrel clamp formed of a split band pivotally suspended from said handle and adapted to encircle a barrel, means for securing the ends of said band together in barrel-clamping relationship comprising a chain attached to one end of said band, a lever having a handle portion terminating in a hub portion pivoted 'on the other end of said band, a pair of axially spaced lugs on said hub forming a recess for reception and retention of a link of said chain, and means for releasably locking said lever against rotation.-

2. In a device of the character described having a mobile frame provided with supporting standards at opposite sides of the frame, a handle pivoted on said standards for propelling the frame, and a barrel clamp formed of a split band pivotally suspended from said handle and adapted to encircle a barrel, means for securing the ends of said band together in barrel-clamping relationship comprising a chain having one end attached to one end of the band, a lever pivoted on the other end of the band, said lever comprising a handle portion terminating in a hub portion with a link receiving recess formed in said hub portion, said recess being of a width to re-- ceive a link of the chain edgewise therein but of a width less than the width of the individual chain links, and means for releasably locking said lever against rotation.

3. In a device of the character described having a mobile frame provided with supporting standards at opposite sides of the frame, a handle pivoted on said standards for propelling the frame, and a barrel clamp formed of a split band pivotally suspended from said handle and adapted to encircle a barrel, means for securing the ends of said band together in barrel-clamping relationship comprising a chain attached at one end to one end of said band, a lever comprising a handle portion terminating in a hub portion pivoted on the other end of the band, a toothed segment projecting from said hub portion, a spring pressed pawl on the clamping band engageable with the teeth of said segment for looking the lever against rotation, and a pair of lugs on the hub portion of said lever spaced from each other axially of the hub a distance substantially corresponding to the cross sectional size of material of which the links of said chain are made.

EDWARD A. ZEH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 525,247 Wiser Aug. 28, 1894 1,185,627 Brown June 6, 1916 1,288,794 Anderson Dec. 24, 1918 1,410,991 Cadwalader Mar. 28, 1922 1,445,504 Garton Feb. 13, 1923 1,530,014 Sarif et a1. Mar. 17, 1925 1,559,792 Seabold Nov. 3, 1925 2,348,309 Rohr May 9, 1944 2,384,307 Husson et a1. Sept. 4, 1945 

